DIY Wheelbuilding: Building the perfect SS wheels part 2

In the first article I talked about the choices I made in parts and the thoughts behind them.  Now, it was time to learn a bit and then build the wheels.  I did some searching on the internet on wheelbuilding sites.  I read over the Sheldon Brown site and the one at Mike T's site.  As well, I read the fascinating book by Jobst Brandt.

See the links at the bottom of the page for that info. 

I also used three spoke calculator sources to get to a spoke length.  All wheels do not use the same spoke length...different rim/spoke bed diameters (ERD), hub flange diameters and spacing, nipple lengths, and spoke patterns (cross 3, cross 4, etc).  I used the specs from the hub and the rim maker and plugged the numbers into the DT Swiss Spoke Length Calculator that is linked from the DT Swiss home page and called out for a standard cross three pattern. 

In my case, the hub flange info for the White Industries hubs were: 

Front M-16 Disc - 60mm flange diameter, center to flange left is 21mm and C/F right is 33mm. 

Rear Eno Disc - 60mm flange diameter, C/F left and right are 32.5mm (non-dished hub). 

The ERD for the Flow rims is listed as 600mm and one pro wheel builder suggested using 601mm ERD as the number. 

Using a 12mm nipple, I ended up with 291mm spokes for both rear sizes and 291mm on the long side (non disc side) of the front hub and 290mm on the short side.  There was some rounding up where 289.9mm from the spoke calc became 290mm and etc. 

As well, I gave those numbers to Guitar Ted and JeffJ (our resident Clydesdale tester who builds his own wheels) and they used the spoke calc methods they employ and gave me the resulting numbers.  They agreed completely, so I felt good about the spoke length numbers.  One mystery out of the way. 

I also opted for alloy nipples.  One, they are lighter. Two, I have never had any issues over a lot of years with hand built wheels and alloy nips.  Three, they come in violet (purple).  Oh yeah.  Back to the 90s, baby. 

Weights of the hubs were:  rear - 323 grams with 10mm bolts. Front - 194 grams with no QR.  The freewheel is listed as 177 grams ( I did not weigh it) and the Stan's Flows are listed as 525 grams ea.  As I said before, i could have trimmed weight with Arches and something like a Hope Pro II or DT Swiss 240 SS hub, but the extra grams were OK with me. 

Now it was time to get to the building part of things, and I have to say that, if it were not for local support (and distant support), I would have felt intimidated.  I enlisted El Jefe, JeffJ, to come over to my casa grande (I bribed him with chicken burritos) and he brought his kit for the task.  I have a pro-type Park truing stand, but his budget model truing stand fit nicer with my furniture.  We had some supplies at hand...anti sieze, grease, a toothpick, a specially ground phillips screwdriver, a good spoke wrench, and all the parts I purchased. 

One of the hardest parts is knowing where to begin, and as this is not a primer on HOW to build wheels, but rather my experience in doing so, I will just comment on the process.  The first spoke is key as it works from the area of the valve stem and sets the pattern for the build.  JeffJ set the rim so that, when you peered through the hole and in towards the hub shell, you could see the logo on the hub.  Swanky.  He also noted that beginning the way he did, assured that the spokes do not cross over the valve stem, providing clear access to air up and such.  Watching JeffJ begin the process and explain it to me set a tone for the night, one of patience and attention to detail. 

From there, it was a matter of following the pattern and being very careful to not misplace a spoke (which is exactly what I did when it was my turn to lace wheel number two...duuuooohhh!).  We prepped all the spoke threads with a quality copper based anti sieze that I have used for years on all kinds of fasteners and surfaces.  We also lightly greased the face of the nipple where it sat on the rim edge.  That was the job of the toothpick, that of applying a bit of grease.  The specially ground screwdriver with the little flag of tape fit the back of the nipple precisely and the flag of tape allowed us to count revolutions of the screwdriver/nipple.

When all the spokes were in place, JeffJ began the task of getting to even tension on the spokes, and backed each nipple off completely with the special screwdriver then turned them an even count all the way around (watching the flag of tape), and around, and etc, until it was pretty close to tensioned.  The man is an exacting technician and stressed to me the process needs to be that way to get the result we are looking for.  From there, it was a dance of the spoke wrench to get the rim in true side to side, dished (centered on the hub), and with no 'hop' to it.  Between plucking the spokes like a guitar and feeling the spokes, he was able to get the wheel looking pretty good.  After final tension was achieved, he laid the wheel on its side, hub end against a towel set onto the carpet, and 'set' the spokes a bit by pressing down on the rim with both hands in several places. 

It was an interesting process.  There are a lot of approaches to building a wheel; you can use a tension meter like this one and get the numbers that way and there are many ways to de-stress or relieve the spokes from wind-up or twist...all kinds of different ways to skin this cat.  Part of the art of building a wheel is getting this done right, and while we may not have been pro at it, JeffJ is 260 lbs and 6'4" of power on his 29er wheels and has not had any issues on the many wheelsets he has built.  Works for me. 

The Flows built up very sweetly and the anti-sieze and the grease made for a smooth feel to the final tension...no spoke twisting issues.  The high quality spokes and nipples from DT Swiss had to be working for us here.  The non-dished rear hub is really a great feature.  Man, I wish I could do that for a geared bike (or a front hub, for that matter).  Some folks run a 6 or even 7 speed 'mini cluster' on an SS hub to achieve this and I see the appeal, but the gearing range is iffy for me.  Someday, internal geared hubs will be there and I will be all in. 

I weighed the final wheels and then promptly lost the paper I wrote the numbers down on.  But, I believe it was around 950g for the front and 1050 for the rear.  Maybe...don't quote me.  However, I really only care what the final process gave me compared to the old set up.  Weighed that way with tires, QRs/bolts, etc, I came up with a 90g savings on the rear combo and a 60g savings on the front....same tires, just tubeless.  I think that actual bare wheels were almost the same as the older DT Swiss set. Not a huge weight savings, but I gained a stiffer rear wheel for sure, the ability to go to 15QR in the front, a wider footprint on the tire casing from the beefy Flow rim, obviously the tubeless-ness, and I have to say, a sweet looking wheelset. 

I Stan's yellow taped them and installed some tubes/tires overnight to set the tape.  Then, I pulled the tubes and installed the Stan's valve stems and sealant, converting to tubeless.  I did need to pull the valve core and use an air compressor on the rear tire, a Continental Race King, but the front Specialized 2 Bliss Purgatory tire only needed a floor pump.  I had to play around with getting the BB7 caliper over far enough outboard to work well without rubbing.  I installed the Eno freewheel, making sure I anti-seized (and greased) the threads.  Once that was done, I went riding. 

I can feel the tubeless advantage for sure.  So supple feeling.  The rear wheel is quite stiff laterally and overall I believe I gained some steering precision from the better tire support and beefy Flow rims.  I love the sound of the Eno freewheel.  It is in between a DT Swiss hub and a Hope hub for noise level and I do feel the faster engagement over the old rear hub.  And the White Industries hubs are just eye candy, all polished and such.  Smooth too.  Man, in the workstand those hubs spin like there is no tomorrow.  They make all the other hubs I have spun lately feel like mud.  I have never heard of anyone breaking an ENO freewheel...never.  It is rebuildable too. 

Flows, classic cartridge bearing hub, bomber freewheel, careful build....miles of smiles, I hope. 

I like the result, the process, once quite a daunting mystery, is now pretty clear to me at least as far as the basics go, and I would do it again.  It also gave me an appreciation of what a good wheelbuilder brings to the table.  Beyond just lacing the parts together, they help you make the right decisions for what rim, hub, etc best meets your needs, then they hunch over the workbench for a bit, finally handing you a strong and balanced wheelset that could last for years to come.  The science of it is understandable, but the artistry of it....making the parts into a perfect wheel...that is another thing altogether and that is the true magic in the wheelbuilders hands.  Magic always costs and frankly, after having sat in the wizards chair for a bit, I think they are underpaid. 

http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Wheel-3rd-Jobst-Brandt/dp/0960723668

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html 

http://miketechinfo.com/new-tech-wheels-tires.htm

http://www.dtswiss.com/ 

DIY Wheelbuilding: Building the perfect SS wheels part 1

It seemed like it was time to replace the wheelset on the SS Jabberwocky test mule.  The current wheels were several years old now, being a mix of DT Swiss Onyx hubs and DT Swiss 7.1 TK rims, and had been faithful and true, but I did not trust the rims to be a great tubeless conversion even though many have done that successfully.  As well, the rear rim had been tweaked and dented pretty well in a crash and the tension on the wheel was now way off in order to get it spinning true. The combo was not particularly light either.  

One other thing bugged me.  The hub was a 9 speed cassette hub and it needed spacers and such to make it work for singlespeed use.  Does that matter?  Not in any real practical way, in fact it has some advantages, but it offended my purist sense.    

So my goals for the new hoops were as follows:  

              •              build a stiff wheelset without gaining weight 

              •              get a dead reliable tubeless ready rim 

              •              go to a hub that allowed for a dishless build with even hub flange spacing 

              •              add some classic blingy-ness (to help get the chicks, natch!) 

              •              get a rear hub with a bolt on axle option and a front hub that can be converted to 15mm                                   thru bolt QR 

              •              keep the cost at a sub-sonic level 

              •              I wanted to build the wheels myself 

              •              I wanted to stay away from any odd and proprietary parts like unique spokes, etc.  

Making the new wheels lighter is easy.  Spend enough ducats and you can be riding some light wheels.  But there are practical considerations too.  Wheel stiffness is one.  Rim width and the resulting tire profile is another.  Some of the lighter hubs like an Industry 9 or a DT Swiss 240S are pretty feathery, but darn expensive.  A Chris King hubset costs more than a complete, moderate wheel build.  Weight savings was not the first priority.  

Getting a great tubeless set-up is getting easier, but there are really two major players in that world as far as I am concerned:  Stan's No Tubes and Bontrager.  There are others of course and new pre-built wheels like the Specialized/Rovals and the Easton Havens are hitting the trails adding fine options to the 29er wheel market.  But really, for now it is Stans and Bontrager rims that have the established track record for painless tubeless conversions.  I would choose one of those, especially as I needed to buy the rims separately to do my own build.  Tubeless was a high priority.  

I know that there are very many reasons to run a 9 speed type cassette hub as an SS hub.  You can always use it on another bike with gears if you choose; they are common to find used or on sale, etc, and the chainline is completely adjustable which allows for mixing and matching cranksets and bottom brackets, etc.  But I really like the idea of a dedicated SS hub.  I appreciate the dishless wheel build and the better tensioned wheel that results and I like the look of it and the purity of purpose.  The only options were to go with a freewheel hub like a classic Pauls or White Industries or a newer SS cassette hub like many of the hub makers offer now.  Hope, Chris King, DT Swiss, I-9 and others have stepped in with narrowed cassette-body hubs that have wide flange spacing and still allow for some chainline adjustment for the rear cog; likely the best option of all, but was that for me?    

I did not really want the anodized, rainbow colored bling that is so sought after.  Something else was bouncing around my head in that regard, but I did want them to stand out a bit from the herd.  

Since the frame I have now, a Vassago Jabberwocky,  has track ends with tensioners for getting slack out of the chain, I wanted to add some clamping power to the rear axle/frame interface.  A bolt on hub (not a nutted axle) that has a drilled and threaded axle and a separate fixing bolt(s) appealed to me as simple and functional.  If the next frame has dropouts, I am still good to go.  

Cost is relative, but a $900.00 wheelset was out of the question.  That did narrow my choice a bit.  

Building them myself was something I wanted to try.  I have done pretty much everything as far as building up and maintaining bikes over the years, including assisting in a small frame builders shop (no, you DO NOT want me building your frame) but I have never laced up and tensioned a set of wheels.  I had some local and distant support with guys that had built wheels before, a few good books, and the internet for resources.  What could go wrong?  

I did want them to be classic/simple wheels as far as replacing parts, spokes, etc.  Someday I may run a prebuilt, zoomy and special wheelset, but not right now and besides, usually all that proprietary stuff is not there for the do-it-yourselfer, build em' at home wheels.  

The final choices:  

So after thinking about this a lot, reading all kinds of forum discussions, and talking to folks whose opinions I respect, I came to these conclusions and choices.  For rims I went with Stan's Flows in 32 hole drilling.  I actually prefer an eyeletted rim and these are not.  And, they have a reputation for being a bit on the soft side as far as tensioning/building them.  But for a wider rim at this weight, stiffness, track record, and absolute proven tubeless set-up, the Flow is still king as far as I am concerned.  I almost got the slightly lighter and narrower Stan's Arches, but went for the wider tire profile that the Flows provide.  Running  a very close second were the Bontrager line of rims, but you need to go through a Trek dealer for that and Stans is a direct deal.  I like that.  One complaint…what happened to silver ano rims????  Apparently black is the new silver.  Too bad. 

  

For hubs it was partially an emotional choice and partially a practical one.  On the practical side, the cost of a Chris King SS hub or a DT Swiss 240S SS hub is pretty steep.  Not that they are not worth it, but still, I was on a budget.  I knew I wanted a pure SS hub though, so I looked at the choices in freewheel hubs.  I knew that I would be adding some weight overall and I would be giving up chainline adjustability, but that was not a big deal to me.  I wanted to get to a classic feel with this SS wheel build and if I needed to run a tapered BB and crank to get that, so be it.  Many hold the opinion that external BBs are overrated and perhaps I agree.  So there are two main choices for freewheel hubs:  Paul's Components and White Industries.  The chainline differs between the two and there are some other little details, but they are both super hubs. In the end it was the polished gleam of the Whites stuff that won me over.  It reminds me of the old Campy hubs or some other classic bike part.  Simple.  Beautiful.  Elegant.  Bulletproof with a White Industries ENO freewheel on there.  Done.  The front M16 hub is convertible to 15mm QR as well, but not 20mm or 9mm.  Too bad about that, but I can live with it.  I doubt that a 20mm fork would ever see duty on the SS bike anyway.  

Spokes and nips?  DT Swiss Competition1.8/2.0s with alloy 12mm nipples, violet, I think.  

 

Next, we will gather the parts, weigh them in, and dive into the mystical, magical world of wheel building. Will I be befuddled and confused? Will I hit my goals?  Will they even roll?  Stay tuned when all will be revealed.